Agency
The Lagos State Government says its health sector is deficient by 30,000 medical doctors to service the increasing health needs of residents.
Disclosing this on Wednesday at the ongoing 2024 Clean-Air Forum in Lagos, the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi, said the dearth of medical doctors in the state has continued to overstretch the available officials in bridging the gap to available doctor-to-patient ratio.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the event was meant to arouse public consciousness on air quality and the impact of pollution.
Themed, ‘Advancing Collaborations and Multi-regional Partnerships for Clean Air Actions in African Cities’ the programme was organised by the University of Lagos, AirQo, the Makerere University, Uganda with support from the Lagos government.
Speaking on the forum’s theme, the commissioner decried the negative impact of air pollution and its bearing on the health sector.
He said the state has been facilitating inter-agency collaborations to mitigate the crisis
Abayomi said the state is in dire need of medical doctors to cater for the increasing medicare of the smart city and blamed brain drain for the personnel deficient.
“Lagos annual population growth rate of six to eight per cent comes with huge challenges and the health sector is not an exception.
“Lagos because of its daily increasing population has a complex tuberculosis index and the state is making a whole lot of impact in this area to mitigate its spread.
“The promotion of air quality and the need to halt environmental pollution in the state is where the collaborative efforts of the agencies are needed.
“As a government, the state will continue to support every effort to sanitise the air in the city in order to reduce the rate of air born, and water diseases that bear negatively on the health of the residents,” he said.
The commissioner noted that the shortage of bed spaces in the state health centres had been a concern to the public, adding that the state has been working to tackle it headlong to give patients relief.
Abayomi said that with the construction of modern facilities across the state and the establishment of its medical research institution, Lagos would bridge the gap within 18 months to give the public the desired service.
(NAN)
The post Brain drain: Lagos faces shortage of 30,000 medical doctors, commissioner reveals appeared first on Healthwise.